Machine-gun unit



June 24, 1924. A 1,498,542

W. T. GORTON. l

MACHINE GUN UNIT Filed July -12. 1922 2 shew-sneei is;l

MACHINE GUN UNI'IV Filed July 12. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eig INVENTOR f/'aller Corio A TTORNEY Patented .lune 24, 1924.

PATENT oFFicE.

WALTER T. GORTON, OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

MACHINE-GUN UNIT.

Application led July 12, 1922. Serial No. 574,557.

(FILED UNDER THE ACT 0F MARCH 3, 1883, 22 STAT. L., 625.)

T 0 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, TAI/run T. GoRToN, captain, Ordnance Department, United States Army, a citizen of the United States, stationed at Springfield Armory, Springfield, Mass., have invented an Improvement in Machine-Gun Units, of which the following is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its'oflicers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordancewith the act of March 3, 1983.

The subject of this invention is a machine gun unit.

In mounting machine guns on aircraft-it is now customary to mount them in pairs arranged side by side. To facilitate the operation of the gun in such instances it is desirable to have them so constructed that they will operate from opposite sides, that is, one operating right handed and the other left handed. By so constructing the guns the cartridge belts may be fed to each gun from its inner or more accessible side thus facilitating the loading of the belt in the gun. In such instances it is necessary that the trigger motors through which the guns are red synchronously should be mounted on opposite sides of the gun.

@bviously it is desirable to make some guns for right hand operation and others for left hand operation and, consequently, the present invention is devised to permit the gun to be operated by the trigger motor from the right or left hand side as desired.

The invention consists in so designing the Sear, sear slide and side plates of the gun that a trigger motor may be mounted on either side as desired and the gun properly functioned thereby.

With these and other objects in` View, my invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein described may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation of a machine gun breech mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fin: 1.

eferring to the drawings by numerals of reference.

The side plates are indicated at 10, between which reciprocates the bolt 11, bored to receive the longitudinally reciprocable firing pin 12, cocked by the usual cocking lever 13 and held in cocked position by a sear 14 which slides vertically in slots, 11 cut in the bolt and the lower end of which seats in a groove 12 cut transversely in the upper surface of the firing pin adjacent its rear ends. Thesear is forced toward its lowermost position by a sear spring 15, positioned on a support 16 and both held by a pin 17 located in a suitable aperture in the bolt.

The sear is operated by a slide 18 which extends across the rear of the bolt having a sliding fit in a groove cut in the bolt and the slide is formed with a V notch in which is seated a complemental lug or projection formed on the sear.

The trigger motor 20, carrying the usual plunger 21 which is actuated to operate the slide engaging lug 22, is secured to the side plate through the angled lug 23 and bolt 24, as seen most clearly in Fig. 2. Both side plates are provided with openings 23 and v24 for the reception of the lug 23 and bolt 24, respectively so that a trigger motor may be attached to either side of the gun.

In use, the trigger motor is operated in the usual way, the plunger 21 being forced lforwardly to drive the pawl 22 inwardly' against the slide 18. Movement of the slide 18 will cause the sear to move upwardly along the inclined face of the V shaped notch, releasing the firing pin to prime the cartridge. i

With the sear so located and constructed, it is evident that the inertia effect had when the sear engages the firing pin from below is done away with and also the danger of the sear dropping, due to the violent shocks of the bolt and soi releasing theY pin. It is also apparent that the seai slide may be engaged from either side, thus makinoit possible to use a trigger motor mounte on the right hand side or left hand side of the gun.

I claim:

l. In a machine gun unit, side plates formed with like apertures, a breech bolt reciprocable between the plates, a firing pin carried by the bolt and recipiocable with respect thereto, said pin formed with a transverse groove in its upper surface, means for cocking the pin, a sear movable vertically in the bolt and adapted to seat in the groove, a sear slide extending across the rear of the bolt and terminating adjacent the side plates, the slide operable to lift the sear and means securable in the apertures of either side plate for operating the slide to lift the sear.

2. In a machine gun unit, side plates formed with like apertures, a breech bolt reciprocable between Ithe plates, a liring pin carried in the bolt and reciprocableA with respect thereto, means for cooking the pin, a sear engageable with the pin to hold it in cocked position, a slide extending across the 'rear of the bolt and operable to release the sear and means attachable in the apertures of either side plate to operate the slide.

3. In a machine gun unit, including a sear, side plates formed with like apertures f and sear operating mechanism securable in the apertures of either side plate.

4. In a machine gun unit, a reciprocable breech bolt, a firing pin carried by the bolt, means for cooking the pin, a sear engageable with the pin to hold it in cocked position, and a member slidable in either direction transversely of the bolt for releasing the Sear.

5. In a machine gun unit, a bolt, a firing pin carried in the bolt and movable with respect thereto, said pin provided with a slot inthe upper surface thereof, means for cooking the pin, a vertically movable sear adapted to seat in said slot and means slidable transversely of the bolt for operating said sear from either side of the bolt.

6. In a machine gun unit, a bolt, a firing pin carried by the bolt and movable with respect thereto, means for cooking the firing pin, a sear for locking the firing pin in cocked position and means slidable transversely of the bolt for actuating the sear from either side of the bolt to release the pin.

VALTER T. GORTON. 

